


Until Death Do Us Part

by KB9VCN



Category: The Sandman (Comics), ああっ女神さまっ | Ah! Megami-sama! | Oh My Goddess!
Genre: Angst, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-08-31
Updated: 2002-08-31
Packaged: 2018-09-02 19:38:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8680843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KB9VCN/pseuds/KB9VCN
Summary: Written August 2002; angst; about 1900 words.
This was partly inspired by the "Who Wants To Live Forever" OMG! anime music video.
This contains character death and extreme angst.  Reader discretion is advised.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written August 2002; angst; about 1900 words.
> 
> This was partly inspired by the "Who Wants To Live Forever" OMG! anime music video.
> 
> This contains character death and extreme angst. Reader discretion is advised.

Keiichi lay in a curve of a hillside road, flat on his back.

He sat up slowly. Then he took off his helmet, and shook his head once or twice. Oh man, he thought. I never did like this curve.

He looked around, wondering where his motorcycle had gone.

He noticed the skid marks on the road. They began behind him, ran past where he sat, and continued to the edge of the road. The grass at the edge of the road was torn out between the edge of the road, where the skid marks ended, and the railing, which was torn apart, with one or two cross pieces missing.

Oh no, he thought. It's gone. Over the edge. And the hillside is steep beneath this road. It might have fallen fifty meters, or more. It's got to be smashed up. Ruined. Totaled.

Well, at least I was thrown off before it went over the edge. There's no way I would have survived that...

Then he began to climb to his feet, unsteadily, holding his head. Oh no, he thought. The car. The oncoming car. The car that made me lose control, as I swerved away from it.

It's smashed into the hillside, on the inside of the curve.

Don't just sit here, with your head in the clouds. They could be alive...

And then, Keiichi heard her voice.

"Don't worry about them. I already took care of them."

He looked back to the railing, next to where his motorcycle had gone through it. A young woman sat on the railing, smiling cheerfully at him.

Her cheerful, almost perky, expression belied her appearance. She was dressed in black, from head to toe, and her hair was also black. And her face and hands were as pale as any he'd seen.

He gaped at her. He wondered why he hadn't seen her there, just moments ago. He wondered how she, alone, and as petite as she was, could have already rescued the occupants of the car.

And he wondered who she was.

She still smiled at him. "Why don't you come over here. Walk slowly, and breathe deeply. You've just had a... shock..."

He found himself following her suggestion. He looked down at the ground, and his eyes followed the skid marks on the road, as he made his way to her side.

She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Steady, now. It's alright. I've... got you... now..."

He smiled sheepishly as he half-sat, half-leaned against the rail beside her. "Thanks."

Then he hung his head. "Oh man. I never did like this curve."

"Neither do I," the woman said. "I've seen several... accidents here. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't really even their fault, even though they were driving that car too fast."

He looked up at her. "Do you live near here?"

She smiled sweetly. "No. I'm here on... business."

Keiichi hung his head again. "Oh no. Belldandy is going to be so upset..."

"Yes, Keiichi, she is going to be upset. But I'm afraid it can't be helped."

He looked up at her again. "How did you know my name?... Uh, I'm sorry, but who are you?"

She smiled at him yet again, but with a touch of sadness. "Keiichi. Before I answer that. You should look behind you."

He turned. "Why? Can you see my motorcycle? I'm... afraid to think... what..."

He trailed off, as he saw his motorcycle lying on the hillside, well below him.

And he saw what also lay on the hillside, partly underneath the motorcycle.

It still wore his helmet on its head, but the head was twisted back at a crazy angle. Its neck was obviously broken.

As he turned back, she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder again.

He stared at the skid marks again.

"Do you know who I am, now?" the woman asked.

Keiichi looked up at her, and looked directly into her face, with an unreadable expression on his own face. "Yes," he said quietly.

Then he hung his head yet again. "Oh no. Belldandy..."

Neither of them spoke for a minute or two.

"I'm sorry, but it's time to go, now," the woman finally said. "I've already taken more time with you than usual, and..."

Keiichi looked up at her, for the last time, as she hopped down from the rail and walked towards him. "Please... I said... goodbye... when I left this morning... but... would you?... can you tell her?..."

"She knows, Keiichi," the woman said, as she embraced him.

And then, Keiichi heard the sound of her wings.

"She knows, Keiichi," the woman said again, to herself, now. "She knows that you loved her. But, yes. I will tell her."

—

Belldandy slowly walked along the stone path between the temple and the road, humming to herself, sweeping the path with a broom.

She looked up, to the end of the path. Was someone there? No...

Then she looked around. It seemed as if a cloud had passed in front of the sun. But... no, the sky was clear.

And then she looked to the end of the path again.

A young woman stood at the end of the path. The woman smiled, and greeted her. "Hello, Verthandi."

Belldandy stared at the woman in surprise, for a minute or two. As a Yggdrasil goddess, she knew of the Endless, but she'd never seen one of them, and she'd certainly never expected to have one pay a visit.

But then, Belldandy remembered her manners. She smiled warmly and bowed her head. "Welcome, _shikyo_ - _sama_. Would you like to come inside, and have some tea?"

"Thank you for your kindness, but, no, I'm afraid that I can't," the woman said. "I've got a full schedule... as usual. I can't stay long."

Belldandy smiled nervously. "Oh... Of course."

"Verthandi," the woman said. "Your sisters should be with you."

"Um, yes," Belldandy said, uncertain of the exact meaning of that statement. "They're both..."

As Belldandy turned back to the temple, Urd and Skuld both came out, as if they had been summoned.

They saw the woman at the end of the path. They remained silent. But Urd scowled. And Skuld shuddered, and clung to Urd.

They both came forwards, to stand at both sides of Belldandy.

Belldandy turned back to the woman. "I'm sorry. I don't... understand?..."

The woman sighed, but still smiled. "Verthandi. I am here on... business... And it is my duty... to inform you... regretfully...

"Your... contract... has been terminated."

The smile fell from Belldandy's face. She repeated herself. "I... don't... understand..."

And the woman also repeated herself, still smiling, with infinite patience. Other beings might have taken Belldandy's confusion for naivete, or stupidity, but she knew that it was Belldandy's loving nature. Her cheerful optimism. Her simple inability to think... the worst.

"Verthandi," she said. "I have terminated your contract."

Belldandy stared at her, forgetting her manners again.

"Terminated?..." Belldandy said. "But... you can't... unless..."

She stared at the woman at the end of the path, for a moment that seemed to last for hours.

"Kuh... Keiichi?..." she asked quietly, almost whispering.

The woman nodded, as kindly as she could.

Belldandy's face went white. Her mouth hung open, and the life faded from her eyes.

She fell to her knees. Urd and Skuld immediately clutched at her arms, to keep her upright, and kneeled at both sides of her.

"I have terminated your contract," the woman said once more. "And, as the... agent... of its termination, I am here to serve notice to you, as a party to the contract, of its termination."

Belldandy did not respond. It was not clear that she was capable of understanding anything, now.

But the woman continued. "The wish that was your responsibility to grant is... over. Your... obligation?... has been fulfilled. In good faith. You have done well.

"You should return to Yggdrasil soon, but you may remain here for a time, if you wish. Your Father will be contacting you shortly, with his... condolences."

And then, the woman stopped, and looked at the three goddesses.

Oh dear, the woman thought. They're goddesses, but... they're so young... in this aspect. All of them.

Urd hung her head, and clenched her teeth. The woman at the end of the path could sense Urd's anger as it searched for a target. Her. Or Destiny. Or Yggdrasil. Or Keiichi. Or Urd herself.

The woman sincerely hoped that Urd would not direct too much of her anger at herself. And that Urd would not try to drown her anger with sake, as both goddesses and mortals often did.

Skuld was already crying. She wept for her dear sister, but she also wept for her own loss. And the woman could sense the shame, the guilt, the remorse for her past childish selfishness.

The woman also hoped that Skuld would not direct too much of her remorse at herself. Oh, she was so young. She was only a child, no matter what she might say. None of this had been fair to her, from the start. She had done the best that she could.

And Belldandy...

There had been much more than a contract between her and Keiichi, hadn't there? So much more.

Oh dear.

Urd finally broke the silence. She stared at the ground, and spoke through clenched teeth, even as she held Belldandy closer. "Why?... Why so soon?... It had to happen... someday... but he wasn't even... thirty years old..."

The woman at the end of the path answered her. "I do not apologize for fulfilling my own responsibilities. And it is not my duty to explain myself, or... to console you. If it were not for the contract, I would not have come here at all.

"But you should know this.

"As awesome as the Ultimate Force of Yggdrasil... your aspect of Yggdrasil... may be, there are much older and much more powerful forces at work. The contract could not... delay... this event.

"And... it was quick... and... painless. His motorcycle went over an embankment. His neck was broken. He did not suffer.

"And..."

The woman paused.

She should stop now. If she spoke further, it would be more... painful now. Her words might give Belldandy comfort later, but they could only hurt her now...

No. Keiichi had asked her, and she had agreed. She had promised him that she would say it. She must keep her promise to him.

The woman at the end of the path spoke again, for the last time. "Verthandi. His last thoughts were of you. He truly loved you."

Urd recoiled, as if she had been slapped. She squeezed her eyes shut, and still clenched her teeth, but she finally began to cry.

And Skuld sobbed, and buried her face in Belldandy's shoulder, leaning against her sister for support as well as holding her up.

But Belldandy didn't move, didn't blink, didn't seem to breathe. She kneeled, motionless, between her sisters, and blankly stared at the woman at the end of the path.

After a moment that seemed to last for hours, the woman at the end of the path left. She did not speak again, or say goodbye. There was nothing left to say. Her work here was done.

The three goddesses kneeled on the path, for some time. Alone. Belldandy still did not move, as her sisters both clung to her and cried loudly.

Finally, after some time, Belldandy raised her face to the sky.

The sun shone, and the birds sang.

And Belldandy screamed.


End file.
